wood types

Hardwood FYI

With the design very important to your kitchen layout, the actual hardwood you use determines the longevity or durability of the home. The janka hardness is an industry standard in determining the overall hardiness of the hardwoods you are selecting.The wood species you select may be based on its hardness, or you may simply like the way it looks.You may want to match existing pieces, or want to use a new wood type because you like its characteristics.

Below is what we term hardwood FYI and facts.

(Glossary & Janka scale)

Finish:

Sand in place (unfinished)

Usually takes 3-4 coats

The finish is not baked on

There is a large chance of dust particles between coats

No warranty is available for sand in place.

Usually requires a subcontractor, or special equipment

Has an unknown completed look, color, and sheen

Usually takes 2-3 weeks for install

Pre-Finished

Can be refinished again

Usually has 7-10 coats of finish with durable additives baked in

Finish is baked on so becomes rock hard

Clean environment, install

Installation is very quick, usually can move the furniture immediately back the same day

Homeowner installation possible

Standard / box sizes

Color is consistent and reliable

Warranty is usually at least 20 years up to lifetime from the manufacturer

of wood flooring-related terms

Letting flooring adjust to the environment in which it will be installed. This is crucial to prevent excessive expansion or contraction due to humidity in the air or other job conditions.

Accent Strip

A strip of wood flooring used in contrasting color to the rest of flooring. Can be used around the edges of a room, around a fireplace, or other features in order to highlight a specific area.

Belt Sander

Almost the same machine as a drum sander. Differences are that instead of being directly driven by a belt and pulley with a slotted drum, it is driven by an overhead spindle and has no slotted drum. However, some machines have both. The main advantage of a belt sander is that it uses belts continuous loops of sand paper thus in theory leaving fewer chatter marks.

Bird's Eye

A character found in maples. Very appealing, but relatively rare and expensive.

Border

A decorative inlay of different colored woods assembled in a pattern around the perimeter of a room or rooms. Flooring is used to fill in and around the border, commonly called the "field."

Buffer

A walk-beside sanding machine used for fine sanding, commonly called "screening."

Bull Nosing

A plank of wood with a curved edge. Normally used at the tops of stairs or edges of an upstairs catwalk. Makes a nice finished edge for flooring.

Butt Joint

Where the ends of boards meet together in a wood floor

Cupping

The uplifting of the edges of flooring due to excessive moisture.

Curling

The end result of what happens to flooring when it was sanded when the moisture was still too high in the wood. When the flooring dries out, the edges curl downward, causing crowning in the center of the boards.

Digs

A term used by floor refinishers for edger gouges.

Door Jamb Saw

A specialty tool for undercutting door jambs, cabinets, etc. Makes for a professional look.

Drum Sander

A walk-behind sander used for sanding large areas. Many run on 220V power. Uses cut sheets of sandpaper on a cylindrical, slotted drum.

Edger

Small but powerful disk sander used for sanding areas that a drum sander can't reach. Difficult to master.

Engineered Flooring

Layered flooring designed for stability with a thin hardwood layer on the surface.

Expansion

Wood floors expand and contract with different humidity levels, so it is paramount that at least 3/4inch be left by the edges of walls to allow for this movement.

Flooring Nails

Sometimes referred to as "cleats," these are special nails used in a flooring nailer. They are either "L" or "T" shaped.

Grade

Wood flooring is sold in specific grades. Select is the best, with no knots and a very uniform color. Number One Grade has some small knots, dark streaks, and imperfections. Rustic or Tavern Grade as it is sometimes called has lots of knots, worm holes, and many color variations. There are also smaller classifications among these grades.

Grain Raise

The lifting of wood surface fibers due to moisture in the application of finish.

Heartwood

Wood from the interior portion of a tree. Generally darker in appearance and harder than sapwood.

Joint Staggering

This term is self-explanatory. It is an important part of professional floor laying, and results in a tight and appealing-looking floor.

Lambs Wool Applicator

Floor finish applicator used on a pole for coating large areas.

Lap Marks

Refers to marks left from a brush or lambs wool applicator when finish is not applied evenly, or sometimes when climate conditions are not ideal.

Medallion

A decorative design of parquet flooring assembled in the center of a room or in a high-visibility area. Many come factory-made, but they can be custom-made as well.

Medullary Rays

Striations that appear in some wood species when quartersawn. These are usually visible in oak with a golden color.

Mill Marks

Marks left on the flooring surface from the factory. Some manufacturers are better than others, which require little or sometimes moderate sanding.

Moisture Content

How much water or humidity is absorbed into the flooring.

Moisture Meter

A meter that is used to check the amount of moisture in wood. This is done to make sure flooring is not too wet or dry, thus preventing excessive expansion or contraction.

Peeled Veneer

Engineered wood flooring with peeled veneer is generally cheaper than sawn veneer flooring. It is made basically by peeling a log on a large lathe to produce a thin layer of wood for the flooring surface. Underneath that are layers of other woods sandwiched together at different angles to promote stability.

Plain Sawn

The normal sawing process by which most flooring is produced.

Pre-finished

Flooring that is factory-finished. No sanding or finishing is necessary after installation.

Quarter-sawn

A log that is cut into four pie-like sections. Sections are then sawn perpendicular to the growth rings. This results in vertical grain which is more stable and beautiful than plain sawn wood flooring. In some species like oak, medullary rays are clearly visible.

Radiant Heat

A heat source that is installed under finished flooring. Flexible tubing is installed in concrete or under the sub-floor. Heated water is fed through the tubing, thus warming the flooring surface. This type of heating is relatively new to many contractors and builders. Great attention should be paid to wood flooring choice and installation procedures if radiant heat is desired.

Random Width

Wood flooring that is laid in a pattern of different widths.

Rift

A sawing technique similar to quarter-sawn, except the saw angle varies slightly. This process produces vertical grain, which is more uniform in appearance and also more stable.

Rosin Paper

Pink paper that is laid down on top of the sub-flooring before installation of the wood floor itself to prevent squeaks.

Sand-screens

Carbon-tipped mesh used on a buffer as a finish sanding to even out the smoothness of a floor. Also used between coats to smooth grain raise and to promote adhesion of coats.

Sapwood

Wood that is new growth on a tree. Normally it is softer than heartwood. Some specie can have a much lighter color in the Sapwood.

Sawn Veneer

Refers to engineered wood flooring. It means that the top layer of wood is actually sawn. This is better than peeled veneer. It looks better, is more stable, and generally can be sanded, depending on the manufacturer.

Solid

Wood flooring that is not engineered. Comes in varying widths and thickness.

Species

Refers to the type of tree from which wood flooring is made.

Square End

Refers to how flooring is made and sold. Some flooring comes with the ends of the boards already squared. Others (mainly unfinished flooring) have to be cut by the installer. Pre-finished flooring normally comes either square end or square-micro-beveled end.

Squaring Up

Term for starting the first row of flooring parallel and perpendicular to walls in order to have the floor run in a straight line to the opposite wall.

Staining

To apply a wood stain to alter a wood floor's appearance and color.

Stop Mark

A gouge that is left when the operator stops moving as a drum or belt sander is running. Normally caused by amateurs, rarely seen when professionals do the work.

Sub-floor

Underneath floor upon which finished flooring is laid. We recommend 3/4-inch CDX plywood for nail-down applications.

A measure of the hardness of wood, produced by a variation on the Brinell hardness test. The test measures the force required to push a steel ball with a diameter of 11.28 millimeters (0.444 inches) into the wood to a depth of half the ball's diameter (the diameter was chosen to produce a circle with an area of 100 square millimeters). In Janka's original test. the results were expressed in units of pressure, but when the ASTM standardized the test (tentative issue in 1922, standard first formally adopted in 1927), it called for results in units of force.

The results are stated in various ways in different countries, which can lead to confusion, especially since the name of the actual unit employed is often not attached. In the United States, the measurement is in pounds-force. In Sweden it is apparently in kilogram-force (kgf), and in Australia, Janka hardness ratings are either in newtons (N) or kilonewtons (kN). Sometimes the results are treated as units, e.g., 360 janka.

The hardness of wood usually varies with the direction of the grain. If testing is done on the surface of a plank, with the force exerted perpendicular to the grain, the test is said to be of side hardness. Side hardnesses of a block of wood measured in the direction of the tree's center (radially), and on a tangent to the tree's rings (tangentially), are typically very similar. End testing is also sometimes done (that is, testing the cut surface of a stump would be a test of end hardness). The side hardness of teak, for example, is in the range 3730 to 4800 newtons, while the end hardness is in the range 4150 to 4500 newtons.

The most common use of Janka hardness ratings is to determine whether a species is suitable for use as flooring.